thank you pesto, for not "totally disagreeing", dismissing altogether. this is my (brash) opinion, from the northland.

the dems & repubs should go back to the drawing board. america deserves better. canada can afford to stumble along and fail, europe can (is/has) fail, s.america can be corrupted, we can survive a conniving soviet union & china, a weak england, a boorish, uncivil middle east...
the world, a sane world needs a strong america. a strong leader.

and do brace yourselves for the november elections when the political sciolists (not to be confused with 'socialists' -which many of them unwittingly are) will be shocked, scratching their collective heads, wondering now what the heck went wrong - ?
and it'll be days before the dust settles and the white house/press, the Teleprompter, the Times, msnbc, etc. have the anodynic talking points assembled/aligned to explain the 'catastrophe'. "is Liberalism dead?" they'll -no, we'll wonder aloud...

i'll check back in in november, dig up this thread...

God Bless America!

p.s. hey, stating my post doesn't warrant a response is a response!

Please refer to the original post of this thread, read your response, and then try to establish a connection between your series of opinions (which I would refer to as a rant) and the topic of this thread. You've made no reference to any actual political trends that are going on in the United States... much less the Southern/Western US, or Texas. If you're not going to mention any factual information that relates to the thread content, there's not much sense in trying to engage you in the conversation. If you'd like an outlet for your opinions, you can start a thread that involves your content and invites other site uses to engage in those topics. Or you can always refer to one of theses creative media sources...

i guess what surprised me was the belief, the implication that the republicans are in more danger than the democrats (currently) -in texas -or anywhere!
my opinion, the Rs are currently trying to 'find' themselves, redefine themselves, reorganize and are at this time leaderless. to be sure, sarah palin would be welcome at any convention or tea type party but independent conservatives are holding out for real leadership. old guard grampy mcCain was an absolute jape. he would be a welcome backbencher at best.
the Ds have now been taken over by the radical left of their party; the 'erudite' college professor wing. America's whimsical & risky fllirtation/experimentation with Obamunism will actually have been a godsend for the floundering Rs. even hilary (of clinton co.) is waiting on the sidelines. do you understand that the undeserving Rs will benefit from the foolery & damage being caused by this current admin.? and that's bad for America altogether.

i hope you are keen enuf to note the difference and growing divide between the old checkpant Repulican and the (~social/Reagan) independent conservative -which most americans indentify themselves as.

look, texas is big but so far, far away -from el Kanada at least.
and so i am unable to comment much about small obscure counties like 'Nueces' or 'Travis' or 'Tom Green' (<isn't T.G. some b grade actor?).
i suspect that only the illegal/undocumented mexican alien or an acorn type activist group(s) can help maintain any assemblance of a Democrat party in texas. as in canada, Liberals don't win with overt 'ideas'.

certainly we can at least agree 2010 has not been nice to B.O. and his ilk.

The Party that can win the "center" usually will win the elections. It doesn't matter which state in the union we're discussing, the "independents" rule.
Independents switch votes from one party to the other from one election to the next because they are the "center".
It's an embarrassment for the Democrat Party to have a "super" majority and can't agree amongst themselves to pass a unified health care bill, which their leader stated was/is the number one national issue, through Congress.

i guess what surprised me was the belief, the implication that the republicans are in more danger than the democrats (currently) -in texas -or anywhere!
my opinion, the Rs are currently trying to 'find' themselves, redefine themselves, reorganize and are at this time leaderless. to be sure, sarah palin would be welcome at any convention or tea type party but independent conservatives are holding out for real leadership. old guard grampy mcCain was an absolute jape. he would be a welcome backbencher at best.
the Ds have now been taken over by the radical left of their party; the 'erudite' college professor wing. America's whimsical & risky fllirtation/experimentation with Obamunism will actually have been a godsend for the floundering Rs. even hilary (of clinton co.) is waiting on the sidelines. do you understand that the undeserving Rs will benefit from the foolery & damage being caused by this current admin.? and that's bad for America altogether.

i hope you are keen enuf to note the difference and growing divide between the old checkpant Repulican and the (~social/Reagan) independent conservative -which most americans indentify themselves as.

look, texas is big but so far, far away -from el Kanada at least.
and so i am unable to comment much about small obscure counties like 'Nueces' or 'Travis' or 'Tom Green' (<isn't T.G. some b grade actor?).
i suspect that only the illegal/undocumented mexican alien or an acorn type activist group(s) can help maintain any assemblance of a Democrat party in texas. as in canada, Liberals don't win with overt 'ideas'.

certainly we can at least agree 2010 has not been nice to B.O. and his ilk.

You didn't anger me, but it would be nice if you wouldn't use the thread to just talk about whatever. I'm not a moderator, so I have no say over what you can and cannot post, and it's not my intention to do so. But for me, it would be nice to have some relation to the thread topic... just like this post above. IMO a comparison between Canada and the US makes sense when you're talking about the relationship between liberals, conservatives and independents, so thank you for the perspective. I still don't agree, but I can see a relation to the thread topic, which is appreciated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by electricron

The Party that can win the "center" usually will win the elections. It doesn't matter which state in the union we're discussing, the "independents" rule.
Independents switch votes from one party to the other from one election to the next because they are the "center".
It's an embarrassment for the Democrat Party to have a "super" majority and can't agree amongst themselves to pass a unified health care bill, which their leader stated was/is the number one national issue, through Congress.

Independents will remember that failure this fall....

Most polling is in agreement... there are now more Independents than there are of Democrats or Republicans. So I'm in full agreement about that. I also agree that the Democratic party "doesn't do well" when they have the level of power that they attained in '08. Which is why we tend to turn over much more quickly than the Republicans. If I remember correctly (which is tough b/c I was only 10 at the time), Clinton came in with a decent-sized Dem majority, and they were quickly replaced with a Republican Congress in '94.

Dems suck when in power b/c they try to enact too much change at once. They try to pass these humongous bills that will "change the world in one great swoop". It's a bad system of legislating. And I can say for the more Conservative areas of the US, voters are very turned off by that practice becuase there just isn't enough liberal support all around (except for the major cities). But my point in the thread is that the population of Texas is moving more towards the left in general because of continued diversification of the state. Even if this year's elections turn out to be a total disaster for the Democratic party, it's not going to change the growing shift in the priorities of Texans.

But the separations among Democrats are still of no comparison to the practices happening in the Republican party right now. TEA partiers have entirely too much control, and they have begun to turn off independents to their cause just like the Dems pandering inaction have also turned them off. Being an independent is truly just that this year, and it will be very interesting to see how voters side.

The Party that can win the "center" usually will win the elections. It doesn't matter which state in the union we're discussing, the "independents" rule.
Independents switch votes from one party to the other from one election to the next because they are the "center".
It's an embarrassment for the Democrat Party to have a "super" majority and can't agree amongst themselves to pass a unified health care bill, which their leader stated was/is the number one national issue, through Congress.

Independents will remember that failure this fall....

^no. well kind of...
if you're suggesting the 'center' is simply mid of the the two supposed ideologies, R & D, than you are mistook. America is a center-right nation. this is how america operates best. in canada, yes. we are more liberal. we can afford to be more... 'risque'.

the vast majority of americans and/or independants were not so unhappy with your current healthcare that they wanted it totally revamped via a 2000page undigested bill. when was this monster crafted? why so extensive and secretive? this is an insidious & shameless powergrab by the socialists wing of the Liberals to forever have the citizenry beholden to big brother from cradle to grave. preserve your freedoms! trust me, you won't enjoy waiting in an emergency ward for hours for 'canadian style' service. our pets get better healthcare! just yesterday in newfoundland, the premier opted to get his heart surgery in the US, -not in his own country! when push comes to shove, there is a superior choice.

the fact that with 'hyper' majorities the Dems are unable to 'get anything passed' thus far and are sinking in all/any poll is a testament to how far left they have ventured. even their own are trying to figure out if it would be possible to vote for such odious bills and still manage to get re-elected somehow. i think they have painted themselves in a corner with certain unachievable and foolish promises. (lol, they took they're base too serious! i believe rahm emanuel called them 'f*#@& retards'...)

i realize i have steered this thread clearly 'off topic' so i hereby abate. maybe.

the US was basically a center-right country but I am afraid it is shifting into the center-left mode of expecting the government to take care of things; a mode that values talk and allocation over action and accomplishment. But maybe these things can swing back.

I agree that center right is the appropriate mode for a world leader. Canada or Holland can afford to experiment and totally screw up something, but the US can't without opening the way for bad actors to take over the world stage (the oil nations, China, Russia, regional dictators). I am not American born, but I can say I would prefer US hegemony to anyone else's.

However, the far right is similarly to be avoided. The Left Democrats may worship mediocrity but the Right Republicans worship the past, and both are to be avoided.

Considering that we have a two-party system, the parties have generally found themselves taking the opposite position of the opposing party on a given issue, whether the other party picks up on a new issue or a paradigm-shift occurs. Either that, or one of the parties shifts or softens on a position. Therefore, some balance will occur in response to changing demographics and other factors.

A number of scenarios are possible. Republicans could soften on some social issues, they could slowly and lightly soften on unions, and white independents (excluding young college graduates) could heavily shift toward the GOP.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pesto

I am not American born, but I can say I would prefer US hegemony to anyone else's.

The fascist, racist, republican party is hopefully in its last gasps. They should not in any way be encouraged, helped or given any care except to see that they are finally killed off as a viable political party.

It is composed of the crazy radical right wing inheritors of the Birchers, Birthers and Bigots. (I mean Birthers, really?!!!) The "sane" conservatives have been migrating to the Democrats for awhile now, leaving only the crazies exemplified by the likes of Cruz (from Texass, naturally).

Texas is slowly moving Democratic. The republicans' crazy anti woman, anti sex wars (anti sodomy, anti contraceptives, really?!!!) and blatant provable lying the likes that have never been seen before - and usually in the same day/same sentence - is finally doing deserved and long coming damage to that party. The only way the republicans can win now is thru election cheating and voter intimidation/shenanigans that they have so far successfully instituted.

The Democratic party will eventually split into two parties, a more business conservative party, and a more liberal party. What the US doesn't have now and desperately needs, is a true left/labor/socialist party.

Anybody who thinks that the Democrats are in any way shape or form "left" doesn't know what they are talking about as far as politics goes.

Unfortunately, the US is more likely to evolve into a unique form of Nazi Germany than return to FDR's New Deal.

So, given that the President's vote and share total of in Texas fell from 2008 to 2012, and adding in Ted Cruz's election and the impending election of the next Republic governor, can we put the debate of Texas becoming a bastion of liberal politics to an end?
At least until another ten years pass?

JohnMarko's comments above are entirely out of line, and they belie the notion that Democrats and liberals are more tolerant. His comments were petty and hateful.

It's also worth noting that Barack Obama lost the independent vote in 2012 despite winning the election, the same way George W. Bush lost the independent vote in 2004. If the 2004 election wasn't a ringing endorsement for Bush, then the 2012 election was not a ringing endorsement for Obama.

Truth is, the Republicans brought the mess they're in upon themselves. The Democrats have the upper hand not because people are embracing their ideals, but because they're rejecting the ideals of the Republicans.

Allow me to count the ways the Republicans have gone astray:

1. The "Southern Strategy" has backfired. It wasn't worth welcoming disaffected Democrats to the party, especially considering most of them were hard-core racists who only needed one generation to piss away all the good will the Republicans had with racial and ethnic minorities since the formation of the party under Abraham Lincoln.

2. They've chased most of the intellectuals away. (No, the conservative intellectuals haven't become Democrats; they've become independents.) Contrary to the popular narrative, there are many conservative intellectuals. The problem is, conservative intellectuals do a terrible job of appealing to emotion, especially compared to televangelists and snake oil salesmen, so the anti-intellectuals in the party mop the floor with the intellectuals in the primaries.

3. They've become economic hypocrites. The Congressmen who squealed the loudest about the bailouts for GM and Chrysler come from states that have given hundreds of millions (if not billions) of dollars in subsidies to foreign automakers. Corporate welfare is corporate welfare, regardless of the level of government it comes from.

4. They prefer to obstruct and privatize rather than govern. Instead of streamlining the delivery of government service, they prefer to either eliminate service or outsource it, and the outsourcing doesn't necessarily save any money since businesses have to make a profit, whereas government merely has to break even. Basically, they're "governing" the same way Al Dunlap "ran" businesses. Eventually, Dunlap was permanently banned from being an executive for a public company, so it's obvious that the approach is wrong.

The antidote for what ills the Republicans these days is a return to what the party stood for prior to Richard Nixon. This means undoing the "Southern Strategy," actually listening to the few intellectuals who are left in the party for a change, ending subsidies for mature industries, and focusing on improved delivery of service in government.

The fascist, racist, republican party is hopefully in its last gasps. They should not in any way be encouraged, helped or given any care except to see that they are finally killed off as a viable political party.

It is composed of the crazy radical right wing inheritors of the Birchers, Birthers and Bigots. (I mean Birthers, really?!!!) The "sane" conservatives have been migrating to the Democrats for awhile now, leaving only the crazies exemplified by the likes of Cruz (from Texass, naturally).

Texas is slowly moving Democratic. The republicans' crazy anti woman, anti sex wars (anti sodomy, anti contraceptives, really?!!!) and blatant provable lying the likes that have never been seen before - and usually in the same day/same sentence - is finally doing deserved and long coming damage to that party. The only way the republicans can win now is thru election cheating and voter intimidation/shenanigans that they have so far successfully instituted.

The Democratic party will eventually split into two parties, a more business conservative party, and a more liberal party. What the US doesn't have now and desperately needs, is a true left/labor/socialist party.

Anybody who thinks that the Democrats are in any way shape or form "left" doesn't know what they are talking about as far as politics goes.

Unfortunately, the US is more likely to evolve into a unique form of Nazi Germany than return to FDR's New Deal.

I wrote a long response to this but you can't fix stupid so I'll leave my comment at this.

I wrote a long response to this but you can't fix stupid so I'll leave my comment at this.

Some people can't handle the truth about the racist bigoted republican party of today. What I wrote then is even more applicable today.

There are actual NAZIS running for office as republicans today, not to mention Roy Moore and that idiot that Doug Jones beat that our "wonderful" bigot in chief, the orange sphincter mouth wanna be dictator himself endorsed.

No, in fact, the republican party is even worse than as I correctly described it back then.